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Tatum will Duke it out in 'Joe'

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UPDATED 7:11 p.m. PT Jan. 28

Channing Tatum has joined the "G.I. Joe" team for Paramount.

Tatum will play Duke, a key leader of the G.I. Joe crew, a role originally thought to be played by Sam Worthington. Worthington, however, could not coordinate the production's schedule with his current work on James Cameron's "Avatar," which has run over schedule.

Tatum had been cast in Oliver Stone's My Lai Massacre film "Pinkville," but that production has been put on hold because of the writers strike.

He joins Sienna Miller, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Said Taghmaoui and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the live action film, which is set in the future and based on the popular Hasbro action figures.

Stephen Sommers is directing from the latest script penned by Stuart Beattie.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Hasbro's Brian Goldner are producing with Sommers and Bob Ducsay. The film is scheduled for an August 7th, 2009 release.

The project is turning out to be quite the William Morris package. Tatum is repped by the agency, which also reps Sommers, Hasbro and Wayans.

Tatum, who will appear in the upcoming "Fighting" with Terrence Howard as well as the war drama "Stop Loss" starring Ryan Phillippe, has also been cast in "Public Enemies" for Universal.

Besides WMA, he is repped by Management 360 and attorney Rick Genow of Stone, Meyer, Genow, Smelkinson and Binder.